Writing Process

I’m back from my writing retreat and I’ve been busy editing several of the videos I filmed while I was Maine! Two of those videos are now up on YouTube and both give you a glimpse into my writing process. I did a whole assortment of creative exploration on my retreat, from journaling to scene cards, from drafting…

I’ve returned from my writing retreat in Maine and Lake Powell and I’m super jazzed, refreshed, and in love with my writing! Every day was a different adventure and I spent my days journaling, reading, brainstorming, drafting, outlining, hiking, swimming, and meditating! I don’t know what it is about being near the ocean or a large…

What if your villain was your story’s protagonist? This is the question my super-amazing screenwriting friend Erik Martinez asked me over Skype last week and it exploded my brain. I was struggling with my YA Fantasy work-in-progress THE NEVERS. I knew I hadn’t developed my villain the way I needed to. I knew I was…

You know those scenes that you LOOOOOOOVE, but you feel like you can’t cut? You know the ones. They’re the scenes that turn you into a frothing angry velociraptor when someone suggests you might cut them. The scenes your beta-readers keep mentioning might not be necessary, and you’ve pretty much lost all faith in your beta readers…

I got stuck before I even started. Yup, I was chomping at the bit to dive into my YA fantasy novel The Nevers and … I got blocked on page one. On LINE one! It happens to all of us writers. You know the drill … you sit down in your cozy writing chair with…

There’s a lot of angst in the author community. You know it’s true. We’re nervous about if we’ll get an agent. Or if our book will sell. We’re nervous about critical reviews, and sales numbers, and what our mom will think. We spend a lot of time freaking out about if we’re ever going to really…

I get this question all the time … but usually I avoid it. The writing process can be delicate and it’s hard to talk about a project before you really know what it is. FORGET ALL THAT! I’m trying something new. Rather than keeping my latest work-in-progress under lock and key, I’ve decided to do 100%…

It’s Valentine’s Day and no matter if you love this holiday or hate it, I want to take this opportunity to talk about the love of writing. I fully believe in loving what you write. Loving the process. Loving your characters. Giving your writing your full heart. I’m a slow writer sometimes, but I love…

As 2016 rises over the horizon I must make a confession … I’m one of those people who likes to ask what your New Year’s resolution is. Yup, I’m that girl you roll your eyes at. The girl with that extra skip in her step because I love the idea of a clean slate, starting over, and trying…

I wasn’t going to do NaNoWriMo this year … but alas, I can’t seem to stay away! There’s something addicting about the frenzied dash for 50,000 words that has me getting up early and pounding through pages. How is everyone else’s NaNoWriMo novels coming along? We’ve made it to that second week stretch … but…